


Feels Like Home

by Higgles123



Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:22:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26364103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Higgles123/pseuds/Higgles123
Summary: Eddie Brock is slowly getting his life back together with the help of Venom. When his new neighbour, Ivy, moves in and finds her life totally in pieces, can Eddie be the friend she needs to get her through it? Or possibly more?
Relationships: Eddie Brock/Venom Symbiote/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 24





	1. Chapter 1

Sundays were made for relaxing and doing nothing. Of course Eddie Brock enjoyed being employed again after months of being blacklisted by every newspaper and broadcasting station in the city, but he had also gotten used to just sitting around in his underwear and watching Netflix while he moped over his ex fiancee, Annie and dealt with his new found symbiote life partner. And the truth was that Venom _was_ with him for life now. There wasn’t a chance in hell, Eddie could ever imagine his life without that parasite now.

**“Not a parasite.”**

“I mean it in a nice way, bud,” Eddie patted Venom’s cheek affectionately causing the symbiote to nuzzle happily against his host’s neck. “But just to make it up to you how about I let you watch whatever you want on our next movie night, huh?”

**“The next three movie nights and however many packets of oreos as we want then it’s a deal,”** Venom agreed.

_Bang! Bang! Bang!_

“Jesus fucking Christ on a bike you absolute son of a fucking stupid bitch!”

Eddie frowned at the distinctly female voice using language that a sailor would have blushed at and was opening his door before he even realised it. What he didn’t expect to see was a woman who was small enough to pass for a small child if she dressed up as something at Halloween and went door to door for candy.

“Uh, is everything ok?” he asked hesitantly.

The woman turned around and Eddie found himself staring into a pair of blazing green eyes as well as the most adorable freckled nose scrunched up with annoyance.

“Well, first of all, I just found out my boyfriend of three years was actually a cheating scumbag so I’ve had to leave my home and move into this shit heap of an apartment. Then I get a phone call to tell me that I didn’t get the promotion I applied for at work despite working my absolute fucking ass of, and instead it’s gone to some absolute bimbo who doesn’t possess a brain cell of her own and quite clearly only got the promotion because she makes a point of leaning over my boss’ desk in her tight skirts and boob showing blouses. Then to top it all off, I’ve just stubbed my toe on the fucking door. So no, everything’s not really ok.”

Eddie blinked rapidly, having not expected such an angry tirade from a person he had just met and he glanced down to see her small hands clenched into tight fists. He wondered for a moment if she was planning on punching him but then she suddenly let out a long huff of breath and her entire body relaxed.

“Sorry,” she grimaced. “I’m Ivy; your new neighbour.”

“Eddie,” he nodded, taking the hand she held out warily. “Eddie Brock.”

“Oh the news guy, right?” her head tilted to the side with vague recognition.

“That’s me,” Eddie pulled a face, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “Anyway, uh, welcome to the building.”

He stepped back inside with a polite smile before closing the door and letting out a sigh as Venom’s head appeared beside him.

**“We used to think Anne was scary when she’s mad but that woman is far scarier.”**

“You’re telling me,” Eddie scoffed. “What a way to introduce yourself to someone. And there was me hoping our new neighbour was gonna be a whole lot better than our old one.”

**“She’s better to look at,”** Venom commented, drawing a chuckle from Eddie who most definitely could not disagree.

Even with her auburn brown hair shoved up on top of her head and a pair of faded pyjamas, she was certainly something to look at. She wasn’t pretty in the way Anne was. After all, Anne was always well dressed and groomed and would have rather died than be seen by a neighbour in her pyjamas, but it seemed Ivy had no such qualms. If her little rant was anything to go, she didn’t exactly care about what a total stranger thought about her and he couldn’t decide if it was refreshing or slightly nuts. He frowned briefly as a note was slipped under the door. The neat little swirling letters were written on pink lined paper and smelt of lavender.

_Dear Eddie,_

_Apologies for my giant rant just a moment ago. I promise that I’m actually really normal and not a total and utter psychopath. I realise that a psychopath would say something like that and I also realise that I can’t prove it to you because you can’t see inside of my head to know that I’m telling the truth._

_Anyhoo, it was nice to meet you; I actually really enjoyed the article you wrote in the paper the other day about the dog shelter downtown. If I could, I would adopt all of those dogs, even the ugly ones; but then again is any dog an ugly dog? Yeah, ok I’m a dog lover, so sue me?!_

_See you soon, Eddie._

_Ivy._

_P.S. I don’t mean ‘see you soon’ in like a stalker way; just in a ‘I live opposite you so it’s likely I’ll see you soon sort of way’._

“Nuts,” Eddie muttered to himself, albeit with a slight smile. “Definitely nuts.”

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

_Five days later_

Ivy leaned back in her chair and sighed. She rolled her head like the occupational therapist had shown her and made sure her back was in the correct position, before hunching back over to a completely more comfortable one. She heard a fake flirty laugh come from the other side of the office and rolled her eyes as she lifted her coffee mug to her lips.

“You couldn’t make it any more obvious you hate her if you tried,” Louise, her co worker and friend commented with a smirk. “And if it makes you feel better, I think most of us in the office feel the same. Although what I wouldn’t give for a pair of boobs like hers. God, two kids have drank from these fountains of milk and now they’re drooping down by my ankles.”

Ivy spat out her coffee and chuckled. “God Lou, you really paint a lovely image.”

“Right?” Louise grinned. “I mean on the one night a month when Glen and I schedule sex in, I have to wear my bra otherwise my tits just get tangled up around his balls and it all becomes very confusing.”

“Stop right now before I pee myself,” Ivy’s face was red with laughter. “You’re like a walking advertisement to never have children.”

“Aw yeah but saggy boobs and bucket vagina aside, it’s the best thing I’ve ever done,” Louise tried to sound convincing.

“At least your kiddos are cute as well,” Ivy agreed. “When I have kids one day I’m terrified they’re gonna look like my great aunt Maud.”

“Oh yeah, I remember her from your sister’s wedding,” Louise pulled a face. “That would be a bummer; you’d have to hide them away from civilisation.”

“Who are we hiding?”

Ivy’s face met with a pair of expensive boobs encased in an almost see through, very low cut white blouse, and she didn’t need to look up to know that Amanda’s botox filled face would be staring down condescendingly at her.

“Ivy’s imaginary children,” Louise answered, spinning back around in her chair to face her computer and pretend to be working.

“Well seeing as you no longer have a boyfriend, I hardly think you need to be worrying about children right now,” Amanda commented, her blue eyes ice cold upon Ivy. “And I don’t think that you’re being paid to talk about your private life right now, hmm?”

“Just like you’re not being paid to flirt with Kevin in accounts,” Ivy retorted. “I wonder how Mr Howes would feel about that? After all, just because he likes to eye fuck you doesn’t mean he wants you to let everyone else do it.”

“You’re obviously upset, Ivy, so I’ll let that one go,” Amanda clenched her jaw.

“Yeah I am upset,” Ivy stood up, grabbing her bag and jacket while everyone in the office stopped to see what all the raised voices were about. “I’m upset that a stuck up little bitch like you got the promotion I’ve worked _two_ years for just because you open your legs without even being asked to.”

“You cannot talk to a superior like that,” Amanda said aghast, although her face struggled to convey her reaction because it couldn’t really move. “I’ll have you fired for that.”

“Don’t need to,” Ivy announced. “Because I quit. Fuck you and fuck this job.”

Louise was open mouthed as she watched Ivy flounce off before she quickly turned back around, eyeballing Amanda as she reached over to grab her goggly eyed Scooby Doo butt shaking ornament off of her desk; the one that she had gotten in the office secret santa last year.

“And now I’m really going,” she huffed, walking out with as much dignity as she could muster.

She fumed her entire way out of the building, gripping poor Scooby Doo until one of his eyes popped out, but it wasn’t until she got halfway around the block that her rash decision hit her.

“What the fuck have I just done?” she whispered to herself, but loudly enough for passers by to hear and look at her strangely. “Fuck, fuck, fuckety fuck. Great move you fucking dumbass.”

So now not only was she single and living in a shitty apartment, but now she was also apparently jobless too. Way to go, Ivy. Way to fucking go. 

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Eddie’s keys swung around his index finger as he climbed the steps to his apartment. Venom was blissfully quiet after having sated his hunger by devouring not one but three criminals that night. Now all Eddie wanted to do was crawl into bed and pretend that it was not almost two in the morning and that he didn’t have to be up in five hours for an interview at the local homeless shelter. Climbing the final few steps, he turned the corner and his forehead furrowed when he saw Ivy lying flat out in the hallway between their two front doors.

“Ivy,” he dropped down beside her. “Ivy, are you ok?”

“Leave me alone,” she mumbled almost incoherently, throwing an arm over her head. “I’m trying to sleep.”

“In the hallway?” Eddie frowned, taking her arm and using it to force into an upright position. “What’s wrong with your bed?”

“I can’t get to it,” she sighed. “Just like everything else in my life, I’ve managed to fuck this up and I can’t even get into my own apartment.”

“You can’t?”

**She is drunk, yes?**

Eddie nodded. It seemed that his new neighbour was absolutely drunk as a skunk. Her eye make up was in black streaks down her cheeks and her green eyes, now seemingly wide awake, were struggling to focus on him properly and her body was swaying slightly.

“No,” she shook her head before suddenly bursting into gut wrenching sobs that made Eddie grimace internally.

“Don’t cry,” he murmured, patting her shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting manner but just made her cry all the more.

“My life is a mess,” she sobbed. “My ex boyfriend’s a jerk, I hate this shitty neighbourhood, I lost my job and-“

“-The boyfriend and the neighbourhood I knew about, but what happened with your job?” Eddie asked. “Something to do with the bimbo with the big boobs?”

“She was an absolute cow bag and I just lost my temper- that good old Scottish temper my mom used to say was the only thing I inherited from her side of the family- and like an absolute fucking idiot I quit my job and now I’m locked out of my fucking apartment.”

“You’re not locked out,” Eddie pointed to the silver key in her scrunched up hand.

“See what I mean?” she burst into more dramatic sobs. “I’m such a fuck up. I’m a stupid drunken idiot who’s so drunk and stupid that she’s been sat out here for like two hours because she couldn’t find the apartment key she had in her own hand.”

**Why is she referring to herself in third person? Also why does she keep crying? She should be happy she is not longer locked out, no?**

“Come on, let’s get you inside,” Eddie put his arms underneath her arms and helped her to her very unsteady feet.

For his own amusement more than anything else, he let her fiddle around with the key for a couple of minutes until he finally took pity and opened the front door for her before helping her inside.

“Sit,” he ordered, pointing to the breakfast bar while he went to fetch her a glass of water.

Luckily their apartments were identical in layout, although most definitely not in cleanliness and decor, so he was able to find a glass with no problem. He slid the water across the counter top and Ivy pulled a face of disgust before downing it all in one go. With her head tipped back, swallowing the last of the water she almost toppled over and it was only because of Venom reaching out a tendril as fast as lightening to catch her that she didn’t fall to the ground and crack her head open.

“I’m so drunk,” she muttered to herself as she thought she imagined the flash of black diving back into Eddie’s body. “Eddie?”

“Uh huh?”

“You’re a fuck up too, right?” she looked at him through eyelashes that were stuck together with mascara. “Well I mean you were before you stopped being a fuck up again.”

“Right,” he didn’t quite understand where she was going with this.

“Well, how did you stop being such a fuck up? And how did you stop it from feeling like life is never going to be as fucked up as it is in this moment?”

“Er,” Eddie scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably as she watched him expectantly. “I just… Well, I don’t know exactly…”

**Yes you do _._**

Yes. Yes, he did know, but he couldn’t very well tell her. Eddie could feel Venom getting into a sulk inside of him, but he didn’t know how many times he had to explain that people couldn’t know about the symbiote for his own safety, not because Eddie was ashamed of him.

“Listen, why don’t you get yourself to bed? Hmm?” Eddie suggested, putting his hand on her lower back as he got ready to help her off of the stool. “You’ll feel much better after a good sleep.”

“Oh I see what’s happening here,” Ivy raised her eyebrows at him, her eyes squinting slightly as she tried to focus on him. “You, Eddie Brock, are despicable. You think you can take advantage of a woman in a state like this, huh?”

“Whoa whoa,” Eddie help his hands up defensively, his eyes wide with horror. “That’s not what’s happening here.”

“Too right it’s not,” Ivy scoffed, poking him in the chest as she got to her feet, and barely even reached the base of his throat despite standing up straight. “I don’t know what kind of shit you’re trying to pull here but I’m a black belt in six different martial arts and I have no qualms about hurting you if you so much as try anything.”

Eddie had a hard time believing this small human was black belt in anything but he’d roll with it if it made her feel better. He also could not believe that she was basically accusing him of being some sort of sex pest. Un-fucking-believable.

“Ivy, I promise you I’m not trying anything on with you,” he kept his hands up where she could see them. “I’m gonna go now and I’m gonna lock the door for you and post the key back under it, ok?”

She eyed him warily and he walked out of the apartment backwards, keeping an eye on her in case she tried to karate chop him or something. He wasn’t scared for himself, of course; he was just scared that she would try to hurt him and Venom would lash out without being able to stop himself.

Locking the door, he slid the key back under the door and put his ear to it for a moment listening as Ivy shuffled around. At one point he heard a bang and he was worried she had hurt herself, but then she started swearing to herself and he figured he could nothing more for her tonight.

**“Our new neighbour is most definitely nuts,”** Venom echoed Eddie’s words from the week before.

“Yep,” Eddie let out a sigh, grabbing himself a beer from the fridge. “Why couldn’t we just get a nice normal neighbour?”


	2. Chapter Two

Ivy cracked an eye open and groaned. She felt like she had gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson and lost. She was fairly certain she was dying and she needed coffee. Immediately. She looked around and realised she was fast asleep beside the bathroom door and to her left was a particularly foul looking and smelling pile of vomit. Swallowing down bile, she tried to stand and gave up almost immediately, deciding it was in fact better to just crawl to the kitchen for coffee. She managed with great difficulty to pull herself up using the help of the counter top, and when she saw that the coffee machine was already filled with water and ready to go she could have kissed herself for being so forward thinking before she left for work yesterday. 

  
Work. Suddenly the day’s rather tumultuous events came crashing back into her like the time she and Louise had been drunk and riding her kids’ scooters. Louise crashed right into Ivy, sent her flying and knocked her out cold on the pavement. Strangely enough, Ivy wished someone could just knock her out right now so she could forget about the awful shit storm that was now her life. There was a knock at the door that made her head thud in agony and she wondered if she could just ignore it. 

  
“I’m coming,” she muttered snarkily as the knocking continued, rising in both volume and frequency. 

  
She yanked open the door to find Louise stood in the doorway with her two small children and a bag of something that on any other day would have smelled delicious but today made Ivy want to gag. 

  
“Aunty Ivy,” the two blonde haired girls squealed excitedly making Ivy cringe at the noise. But she bent down and hugged them both nonetheless, her face unable to stop from smiling at seeing them even as the movement of bending down filled her mouth with bile. 

  
“Oh wow, you look like shit,” Louise commented with a raised eyebrow, ushering the children inside and closing the door behind her. 

  
“What are you doing here?” Ivy croaked. 

  
“Breakfast,” Louise held up the bag. “We arranged this last week, Ivy. Did you forget again?”

  
“No,” Ivy answered, her voice a little too high pitched to be believable. “Ok you got me. Sorry Lou, I just... it’s been a rough night.” 

  
“Well Aunty Louise is here now,” her friend grinned, pulling out some colouring pencils and paper from her handbag. “The Mary Poppins” bag as Ivy referred to it. She got the kids settled at the coffee table, flicking on Netflix and quickly quashing an argument about what they wanted to watch and then came back to the kitchen to dish out the food. “So Miss ‘I quit my job because I’m a fucking psychopath who gave everyone in the office so much to talk about yesterday’, on a scale of one to ten how badly did you get wasted last night?” 

  
“A number much higher than ten,” Ivy scoffed as she set about making coffee for her and Louise. “I don’t even remember how I got- oh fuck!”

  
She came to an abrupt halt, slapping her hand on her forehead as she remembered exactly how she back into her apartment. Oh god, why was the universe trying to punish her so badly? Was this because she faked having food poisoning to get out of attending her sister’s baby shower last year? Or for all the times as a kid when she used to take five dollars out of her mom’s purse without asking? 

  
“Language,” Louise tsked because her kids were already devils enough without swearing as well. 

“Sorry Lou,” Ivy groaned, sliding a cup of coffee towards her friend before slamming her head down on the kitchen counter top, wishing she could just die of shame. “I’m pretty certain I accused my neighbour across the way of trying to taking advantage of me sexually.”

“You what?” Louise choked on her drink.

“I know,” Ivy looked up and grimaced. “It’s kind of a little fuzzy but I remember being in the hallway, thinking I was locked out and when he came up the-“

“- _He_?” Louise’s eyes twinkled excitedly. “Before we move on to whatever dickwad thing you did I need to hear more about this neighbour? Is he cute? Does he have a name?”

“Seriously?” Ivy pulled a face. “Besides, you know him.”

“I do?”

“Yup, along with pretty much everyone else in the city,” Ivy nodded. “Does the name Eddie Brock ring any bells?”

“Shut the fudging door!” Louise gasped. “Are you actually kidding me right now? Your fudging neighbour is Eddie fudging Brock?”

Ivy nodded again, wondering why the universe couldn’t have seen fit to give her a neighbour who was old and ugly. But no, she of course had to live opposite a man who had definitely given her downstairs area the flutters on the odd occasion she’d caught a glimpse of him on television in the past couple of years.

“I think you need to sit down and tell me everything, right from the second you stormed out of work with Scooby doo in your jacket pocket,” Louise decided, glancing over at the children whose eyes were glued to Spongebob and deciding they had at least fifteen minutes before an argument broke out over a colouring pencil.

As predicted, Ivy received very little sympathy from her best friend of ten years and instead was on the receiving end of a lot of snorts and laughing. At one point, Ivy punched Louise in the arm but even that was not enough to make her stop giggling gleefully.

“I can’t believe you accused _the_ Eddie Brock of trying to sex you up,” Louise howled. “I mean the guy saw you asleep in the hallway like a vagabond with your make up looking like _that_ and then helped you into your house after you couldn’t even get yourself in. I’m fairly certain the last thing that he would have wanted to do after that is get into your pants.”

“Fuck off,” Ivy huffed, completely forgoing the no swearing rule.

There was a creak from across the hallway as Eddie’s front door opened, and both Louise and Ivy waited with bated breath for his footsteps to disappear down the stairs. When the heavy footsteps stopped outside Ivy’s front door followed by a few cautious knocks, Ivy didn’t need to look at Louise to know that she was grinning like a cheshire cat. Before she could move, Louise was up and yanking the door open with a smirk on her face.

“Uh, hi,” Eddie frowned, scratching his neck awkwardly. “Is Ivy about?”

Ivy shook her head in horror. There was not a chance in hell that she could let Eddie Brock see herin this state- again.She looked even worse than she did last night and she smelt horrific; she still had dried puke in her hair for crying out loud. As Louise invited Eddie to come in and Ivy darted to the bathroom faster than a cheetah so she could at least brush her teeth and wash her face. She sprayed some dry shampoo in her hair and shoved it up into a ponytail before breezing back out into the living room as though nothing was amiss.

“Oh hey Eddie,” she gave what she hoped was a smile and not a grimace.

“Ivy,” he nodded with a small smile, taking in her attire and noticing she hadn’t changed since last night. “I, uh, just came by to check that you were doing alright?”

“I appreciate that,” she smiled sincerely this time. “I, uh, I’m sorry about how drunk I was last night. I don’t even know what possessed me to get in such a state. And, I also think I owe you a huge apology for what I said.”

“Oh you mean accusing me of taking advantage of you drunken state?” he teased gently, his blue eyes creasing as he grinned.

“You coulda just pretended you didn’t even know what I was talking about,” Ivy narrowed her eyes as a blush rose to her cheeks, but she enjoyed his humour secretly.

“Where would be the fun in that?” Eddie asked. “And besides Louise told me I had to embarrass you because you deserved it.”

“Traitor,” Ivy pretended to pout at Louise who just shrugged. “I was in the bathroom for like two seconds and already you two are ganging up on me.”

“Yup,” Louise nodded, reaching for another plate out of the cupboard. “We’re just about to eat some breakfast, Eddie and there’s plenty of extra.”

**I like this friend.**

“I’m sure Eddie’s got better things to do than have breakfast with us,” Ivy tried to dissuade her. “And besides if the devils clock him they’re gonna be asking him a million questions.”

“Nonsense,” Louise wouldn’t take no for an answer as she set about piling bacon onto a plate for Eddie. “And the devils to which Ivy is referring to are my two little girls- your godchildren, Ivy, I might add- and yes, they will most likely ask you numerous questions but when they become too annoying I’ll slip a little something into their drink and they’ll soon shut up.”

Eddie frowned at Louise’s words, trying to deduce if she was actually being serious about drugging her own children but then she winked and he couldn’t help but smile. His stomach rubbled as the smell of crispy bacon wafted up his nose but he wasn’t sure that Venom was going to be able to behave and stay hidden around two small children. After all, he had never been around any really before.

**I know how to behave, Eddie. I will not frighten the small children because they will not see me. But I will admit I am curious to see what younglings on your planet are like.**

“I guess after last night breakfast is the least I can do to apologise,” Ivy said, taking his silence for discomfort.

He smiled at her widely, showing teeth that were slightly crooked but white, and in fact the imperfection only enhanced his smile. Ivy wondered how on earth she was going to be able to sit through a meal with him when in that moment he looked good enough to eat instead of the bacon and pancakes on her plate.

“Come on then you two,” Louise ordered as she made her way towards the living room area where the girls were excited by the stack of pancakes on each of their plates. For a second anyway.

“Mom,” Phoebe, the youngest whined. “Poppy’s got an extra pancake than me.”

“That’s cos Poppy is two years older than you,” Louise explained. “And also because just yesterday you told me you can only eat things in even numbers.”

“Only candies and stuff,” Phoebe crinkled up her nose in annoyance, her arms folded across her chest in a huff.

“Fucks sakes,” Louise muttered under her breath. “Right fine, you can have one of my pancakes.”

“I don’t want _your_ pancake!” Phoebe stamped her foot petulantly. “It’s got your ickies on it now.”

“Phoebe Rimmer you literally came out of my hoohah so I think a pancake that I’ve literally done nothing more than breathe on won’t kill you.”

Eddie choked on his bacon and Ivy reached out to pat him on the back gently. He gave her a grateful look and she grinned before reassuring him that he would get used to Louise’s crassness if he ever had the misfortune of being her around her again in the future.

“Aunty Ivy,” Phoebe was distracted when her inquisitive little eyes fell upon Eddie. “Who’s he?”

“Oh, I’m Eddie,” he gave her a small wave. “I live across the hall.”

“Is he your boyfriend?” Poppy looked away from the television.

“No you dumbass, Martin’s her boyfriend,” Phoebe scoffed.

**These younglings are very inquisitive. I like it.**

“Actually I heard Mom talking on the phone to Aunty Ivy last week about that cheating scumbag Martin and how Aunty Ivy was better off without him,” Poppy declared.

“Language, the pair of you,” Louise warned, giving that look that mother’s give to inflict fear into their children. Only for Louise, her children were truly the spawn of Satan and couldn’t give a flying hoot about any warnings or repercussions. Well, that and they knew that Louise wouldn’t bother punishing them when they got home because that was something she only did in public, or in front of those Pinterest type moms, to make it look like she was actually making an effort to control her feral kids.

“So if you’re just the guy who lives across the hall then why are you here for breakfast?” Phoebe asked, eyeing Eddie suspiciously.

**Do all small humans ask so many questions?**

_Yup._

“Cos that’s what neighbours do,” Ivy answered for him. “You know, it’s nice to be friendly with your neighbours.”

“Mom isn’t friendly with our neighbours,” Phoebe wriggled her eyebrows.

“I am,” Louise pretended to look put out. “I’m a pillar of our community.”

Ivy snorted and covered her face when coffee dribbled out of her nose. She didn’t even have it in her to care if Eddie saw- although he absolutely must have because he was sat right beside her on the couch- because she was laughing so hard that she almost couldn’t breathe.

**Is Ivy dying? Do we need to call for Dan?**

_No bud, she’s just laughing._

“Tell that to Mr Puss,” she squeaked through her laughter.

“Who’s Mr Puss?” Eddie asked.

“Just my next door neighbour’s cat,” Louise shrugged.

“Yeah who Louise ran over last winter and then blamed it on her other neighbour across the street because the, and I quote, ‘bitch deserved it for saying my Halloween decorations weren’t in keeping with the rest of the street’,” Ivy gave her friend a pointed look. “So now the poor grey cat is wandering around with a limp because Louise managed to break one of its little legs.”

“It was an accident!” Louise exclaimed.

“You accidentally blamed your neighbour?” Eddie smirked.

“Oh fine, you side with her won’t you,” Louise pretended to be annoyed. “And after I invited you to join us for a lovely breakfast. I mean, all you got outta Ivy here was a pool of vomit and an accused of being a sex pest.”

“Louise!” Ivy groaned, slapping a hand over face. Of course Eddie wouldn’t have forgotten all of that but it didn’t mean that he needed reminding of it so soon, or in fact ever. “And the vomit happened after he left anyway.”

“What’s a sex pest?” Poppy asked innocently.

“Ok everyone that’s enough,” Ivy clapped her hands together. “Girls, go back to watching your tv show; Louise, stop talking because I swear I’m gonna throttle you; and Eddie, I’m really sorry about last night and in the cold light of day I don’t even know what made me behave the way I did.”

“It’s fine,” Eddie reassured her. “And anyway, it’s not the first time a drunk girl has accused me of trying to take advantage and it probably won’t be the last. But uh, I forgot to mention that if you were being serious about having quit your job then I actually have a way to help you.”

“You do?”

“Yeah,” Eddie nodded, shovelling bacon into his mouth as though he hadn’t eaten in weeks. “I, uh, spoke to Mrs Chen this morning when I went out for milk. She owns the convenience store two blocks away and she was actually gonna start advertising for some full time help. She said that if you pop in then she’d see if you two could work something out.”

“Just like that?” Ivy frowned. “She’s gonna give me a job and she doesn’t even know me?”

“ _I_ know you,” Eddie said as if that explained everything. “I told her I would vouch for you.”

“And why on earth would _you_ do that when you don’t even know me? I’ve hardly made a good first impression on you.”

**Because we like her. She makes us feel… what is the word? Horny?**

_That’s not it at all._

**You can’t lie to us, Eddie.**

“I recognise someone in need of help,” he answered with a shrug, speaking both to Ivy and to the symbiote inside of him “I just mean that I know what it’s like to lose everything and feel all alone.”

Ivy swallowed the sudden lump that appeared in her throat when she saw the sincerity in Eddie’s eyes. There was an understanding there and she realised that he truly knew what she was going through and that there wasn’t some sort of hidden motive in his helping her. It seemed that despite embarrassing herself at every hurdle so far, she had somehow managed to make a true friend out of Eddie Brock.


	3. Chapter Three

Ivy had no idea that working in a convenience store could be so enjoyable. Not only was Mrs Chen really rather lovely- once Ivy had cracked through her almost stern facade anyway- but the job meant that she was getting paid to indulge in one of her all time favourite hobbies. People watching. Mrs Chen’s store was literally the perfect place to watch the comings and goings of all walks of life and it was quite possibly her dream job. Well, perhaps that was a little far but it was certainly better than that dumb office job she’d slogged at for years. Sure, the pay was better but the financial loss was certainly made up for by the fact that she actually enjoyed going to work five days a week.

Tonight was Saturday, and her first time locking the store up at the end of her shift. She was a little nervous to be closing up alone at midnight, but she also felt very flattered that Mrs Chen trusted her after only a couple of weeks working for her. There hadn’t really been any customers for the past hour so she had done all of the cleaning and things which meant she didn’t have to do it all after closing. She was just about to walk around and lock the front door when the bell above it tinkled, and she tried not to groan out loud at whoever would be so annoying as to walk in one minute before closing.

“So is that face the one you always greet paying customers with?”

“Eddie!” she smiled, genuinely happy to see him.

“Ah, that’s better,” he smiled back. “Don’t worry, by the way, we’re not actually here to buy anything, we just came to walk you home.”

“We?” Ivy frowned.

“I mean I,” Eddie chuckled, scratching the back of his neck. “So are you about ready?”

“I just gotta go and put the register in the safe and set the alarm,” she nodded. “I’ll only be a couple of minutes.”

“Yeah no problem.”

Less than five minutes later, Eddie and Ivy were strolling down the street on their way home. It was a chilly evening and Ivy regretted not bringing a jacket with her, but it had been roasting hot when she left for work that afternoon. Her mother always said one of her faults was that she didn’t prepare ahead. Then again, coming from the woman who packed for a day trip like she was packing for three weeks away with every varying weather condition and every possible injury and illness, Ivy knew she could never be prepared enough for her mother. She frowned when she felt something warm around her shoulders, and she smiled her thanks at Eddie when she realised it was his leather jacket. She tried not to think about how nice it smelled but she couldn’t stop herself sniffing ever so slightly to get a stronger whiff of Eddie’s cologne. If he asked what she was doing, she would just blame allergies.

“Aren’t you gonna get cold now?” she asked, trying not to think about how good it felt to be enveloped in something that smelt just like her good looking neighbour.

“Nah I’m good,” Eddie grinned, stuffing his hands into his pockets as they walked.

“Well thanks, Eddie,” nudged him with her shoulder, chuckling when he nudged her back. “Shit! We need to go back to the store immediately.”

“Er why?” Eddie frowned.

“Because I’m about ninety nine percent certain I forgot to put the alarm on,” Ivy explained, turning on her heel.

“I literally watched you do it,” Eddie chortled.

“Well then maybe I forgot to lock the door?”

“Nope,” Eddie shook his head. “I literally watched you do that too.”

“Did I leave a light on?” she grimaced. “Oh, I know, I think I left one of the freezers open.”

“Ivy, stop,” Eddie grabbed her arm and pulled her to a halt. “I promise you now that you absolutely didn’t leave anything on or open or forget to lock doors or alarms. You’re just being paranoid.”

“Hmm you could be right,” Ivy agreed. “I mean, I do have this irrational fear of leaving my hair straighteners on. But then again it’s not really irrational because I did leave them on once and even though they’re supposed to have this automatic timer on that shuts them off after so long they still managed to burn a hole in my carpet and my mom was pissed as anything.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Eddie chuckled as they continued to walk once more. “So, uh, are you enjoying working at Mrs Chen’s?”

“Actually yeah,” Ivy nodded. “I mean, it’s nothing like my last job. In the nicest possible way, it’s actually fairly easy; like I don’t have to spend all day crunching numbers and asking Louise to stop chewing my ear off about her kids so that I don’t accidentally put a decimal point in the wrong place and pay out a million dollars instead of one thousand, you know? I’m not saying that it’s menial work at all but it’s certainly less taxing on the brain than my previous job.”

“I know what you mean, don’t worry.”

“Good, cos I don’t wanna sound like a snob or anything.”

“Would you ever like to go back to do something like your old job though if you could?” he asked curiously.

“Nah, I don’t think so,” she scrunched up her nose in thought. “Now that I’m out of that environment I realise how toxic it is; so bitchy and stuff. People don’t get promoted cos they’re good at their job, they get promoted if their face fits or if they’re fucking the boss. And in an office everyone knows everyone else’s business. When my ex and I ended things, the fact that he cheated on me spread around the office like wildfire. And those people that weren’t coming up to me and offering fake condolences in a bid to get more information about it were the people who were bitching about me behind me back.”

“Yeah, that sounds rough,” Eddie frowned. Break ups were hard enough to deal with let alone without being the office gossip when it was still so raw. “Have you, uh… you heard from him since you moved out?”

“Ha,” Ivy snorted. “Like fuck I have. Louise told me to block his number so he couldn’t call but out of stubbornness I didn’t, and you know what? I’ve not even had one call, text, nothing. I’m not even upset really. I mean, the guy is a douchebag to be honest; arrogant and smarmy and really not all that good in bed. I almost feel sorry for the girl he was cheating on me with because she’s truly getting a rotten end of the deal. well, if they’re still together that is.”

Eddie chuckled. He truly liked Ivy and the way she spoke her mind without caring what others thought. Not in Louise kind of way but in more of a word vomit kind of way. It was rather endearing and he couldn’t remember the last time he felt like he had just instantly gelled with someone in the way he had with Ivy. Eddie tried not to groan when he felt the symbiote nip at his liver.

_I obviously didn’t mean you, Vee._

They were nearing home and now that Venom was once again placated, Eddie decided he wasn’t ready to call it a night with Ivy yet. He didn’t know why but he just enjoyed how it felt to be around her.

**You do know, Eddie. You like Ivy in the way you liked Anne.**

“Hey listen, uh, are you hungry?” Eddie said suddenly, ignoring Venom’s comment. “Cos I was gonna stop and grab a pizza on the way home if you fancied some?”

“I never turn down food, Eddie,” Ivy grinned. “But is it alright if we eat it back at yours cos, well, I’m gonna be truthful and tell you that Louise has kinda been bugging me for details about your place and I don’t wanna let her down again.”

“Oh yeah, wouldn’t want you on the wrong side of Louise, would we? Ok, it’s a deal. Pizza at mine; it’s a date.”

Ivy stopped and looked at Eddie quizzically and he suddenly flushed bright red.

“I didn’t mean a date like a date,” he spluttered nervously. “I just meant it like a figure of speech cos, you know, people say it. I didn’t mean that I was insinuating that it was anything and-“

“-Shut up, Eddie,” Ivy interrupted.

**Yes Eddie, shut up. You’re making us look ridiculous.**

“No I’m not,” Eddie frowned.

“You’re not what?” Ivy pulled a face.

“Sorry, I wasn’t talking to you,” he answered without thinking.

“Okayyyy, I think it’s past your bedtime, Brock,” Ivy patted his cheek playfully. “I think you need to get to bed.”

Eddie swallowed thickly at the image Venom put in his head when Ivy spoke of going to bed, and he could feel his cock throbbing in his tight jeans. Oh fuck, how was he meant to hide this? _A little help, Vee?_

**Hmm, I could help us but it would be much more fun if we let Ivy help.**

_Vee, please man._

“Whoa Eddie, don’t look so distraught,” Ivy chuckled, breaking his internal dialogue with Venom. “I was only joking about bedtime. We can still go get pizza, don’t worry.”

Eddie gave a short laugh and scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. He didn’t give a flying fuck about pizza now if he was being honest. All he wanted was to get home before Venom made them do something stupid. With a small sigh, he prayed that Venom could just behave until they were alone.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Ivy was never eating pizza from that shitty takeaway ever again. Never ever again. The place looked really nice but quite clearly it was the shithole of all shitholes. She hunched over the toilet and spewed her guts up again, squeezing her eyes shut as the burning in her throat literally made them water. It was seven in the morning and she had been really rather looking forward to her lie in but that place Eddie had gotten the pizza from had ruined that plan. Eddie. Oh, hopefully he wasn’t sick too. No actually, she hoped he was because she was firmly blaming him for her own ailment right now.

Her phone began to ring and with a groan, she flushed the chain and washed her hands. The phone continued ringing, reminding Ivy that she really needed to change her ringtone to something a little less perky, and when she made it to the bedroom, she wasn’t at all surprised to find that her insistent early morning caller was Louise.

“You look like death,” Louise grimaced as Ivy finally answered the video call.

“I feel like it too,” Ivy sighed, sitting down on the edge of the bed and reaching for the bottle of water on her bedside table.

“One sec, Vee,” Louise said apologetically before putting on her scary mom voice and yelling at the girls to hurry up and get dressed or they were losing a sticker from their chart. “God those kids are gonna be the death of me one day. Anyway, so what’s up? Are you sick or something?”

“Yeah,” Ivy pouted. “I’ve been spewing my guts up in the toilet for like an hour. I had pizza with Eddie after work last night and I really think I’ve got food poisoning or something.”

“Ooh, you had pizza with Eddie Brock?” Louise smirked. “Wait, didn’t you have to work until like midnight? How on earth did you find time for pizza with Eddie Brock?”

“First of all, do you have to use his full name every time you talk about him?” Louise muttered. “Secondly, do you have to smirk like something’s going on between us when literally the guy just came to walk me home so I didn’t have to walk through the streets on my own.”

“You say that like it’s just something all neighbours do?” Louise scoffed. “He quite clearly likes you, Ivy otherwise why would he do something like that?”

“Cos he’s a nice guy?” Ivy shrugged, pinching her nose as a wave of nausea came over her again.“And cos he’s a journalist and probably knows about all the horrible seedy things that happen in the city at night?”

“Whatever you say,” Louise wasn’t having any of it. “Oh god, Vee are you gonna puke again? You look really pale.”

“Hmm,” Ivy swallowed desperately as her mouth began to fill with sweet tasting saliva that was always a precursor to her vomiting. “I am never eating pizza again. In fact I’m never eating anything again.”

“Oh hon, it’ll pass and it least it wasn’t self inflicted this time unlike your rotten hangover the other week. I actually feel a little bit bad for you now,” Louise finally gave her some sympathy. “Thank God it’s only a dodgy pizza so you’ll probably be better by tomorrow. God do you remember when I was pregnant with Phoebe and I was puking my guts up day and night for months? Now that _was_ awful!”

Ivy’s suddenly felt even worse than she did already. She couldn’t breathe and when the phone slid from hand and onto the floor, she didn’t even hear Louise shouting her in concern. No, no, no. Ivy couldn’t breathe and the room felt like it was spinning. Oh God, her period. How had she not noticed that her period was like a month late? Shit.

_…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………_

_Later that day_

Eddie leaned back in his chair after emailing over the article that had taken him the best part of the morning and into lunchtime to write. He cracked his hands and smiled when Venom’s head came over to nuzzle his cheek.

**Now you’re finished does this mean we’ll be able to hunt tonight?**

“Absolutely bud,” Eddie nodded, scratching Venom under the chin. “As soon as it goes dark we’ll head out. And until then how about we go take a nap?”

But that plan was going to be a short lived because exactly thirty seconds after he uttered the words, Eddie found himself heading over to answer his front door. He peered through the peephole briefly and raised his eyebrows in surprise when he saw Louise stood there.

“Eddie,” she greeted him when he yanked open the door. “Have you seen Ivy?”

“Er no,” he frowned.

“She’s not answering the door and she’s not answering the phone either,” Louise sighed, concern written all over her usually happy face.

“I heard her go out earlier but she came home a couple of hours ago, and I’m certain I’ve not heard her leave again.”

“She wasn’t feeling too good this morning; she was being sick. Something about the pizza you guys ate last night,” Louise explained. “And then I made a comment about morning sickness, or in my case day and night sickness, and the phone just went dead. I had a million and one things to do this morning with the girls and I kept calling but she’s been sending them straight to voicemail.”

“Maybe she’s gone back to bed if she’s not well?” Eddie suggested.

“Maybe,” Louise agreed. “Ok, well I’m sorry to have bothered you, Eddie.”

“It’s no problem,” Eddie reassured with her a smile that momentarily made Louise wish she wasn’t a married mother of two, otherwise she absolutely would be jumping the bones of her best friend’s neighbour right about now.

He closed the door and was about to head to bed when he heard loud knocking at Ivy’s door. Not the sort of knocking sound made by a hand though. Pulling open his door once more with a frown, he caught sight of Louise attempting to kick in Ivy’s door.

“Oh hi again, Eddie,” she smiled innocently. “Don’t mind me.”

“Um why are you trying to break into Ivy’s apartment?”

“Because I heard her drop something and then swear,” Louise said before raising her voice and eyeballing Ivy’s door. “So I know she’s in there and one way or another I’m coming in too!”

**I think Ivy’s friend is crazy… but I like her.**

_She’s most definitely crazy, you got that right._

“Here, why don’t you let me try,” Eddie suggested. He had a hunch that because they were still fairly new friends that Ivy might find it harder to ignore him then she would Louise. When Louise nodded reluctantly, he stepped closer. “Ivy? You alright in there? Listen, Louise said you’re sick. Do you need a doctor?”

Silence.

“Ivy, if you just tell us you’re alright then we can go and Louise can stop trying to kick your door down,” he tried again.

There was a sound of shuffling and then Ivy finally spoke very quietly.

“I’m fine guys,” she said, although her voice sounded croaky and anything but fine.

“You don’t sound so good, Ivy,” Eddie replied. “Maybe we should take you to a doctor?”

“Ivy, open the goddamn door right now and stop being such a drama queen.”

Eddie was more than a little surprised when the chain on the door was removed and it creaked open slowly. Ivy’s face was red and her eyes were puffy. Her copper hair was pulled back into a messy bun on top of her head and she just looked at Eddie and Louise dejectedly.

“Oh so you’re alive then, asshole,” Louise pushed her way into the apartment. “Do you have any idea how worried I was about you?”

“Louise, don’t,” Ivy sighed. “I’m really not in the mood for a lecture from you right now.”

“Well I don’t care,” Louise huffed. “You’re my best friend and I had to spend all morning watching Poppy prance around in her ballet class without about as much dignity as an elephant on ice skates, wondering if you had choked on your own puke. You could have at least answered one of my many texts. I mean, we were talking and then you just go all weird on me and expect me not to worry.”

“Louise, please,” Ivy bit her lip as it begin to tremble and Eddie had to resist the urge to reach out for her. “Can we just talk about this tomorrow because I don’t feel well and I just wanna be alone.”

“Oh for god’s sakes, Ivy, you’ve got food poisoning, you’re not dying. You were obviously well enough to drag yourself out of bed to go to the store,” Louise scoffed holding up the rather full carrier bag on the kitchen side. “So could you not have taken just two seconds to let me know you were alive, or were you just too-”

Louise’s mouth fell open in shock as she tipped open the contents of the carrier bag, and Ivy stood without reaction. Eddie stepped closer to get a look at what had caused such an extreme reaction from Louise and his eyes almost bugged out of his head. It didn’t take a genius to recognise what was in the boxes that littered the worktop.

“You’re pregnant?” Louise gasped.

“I…I don’t know,” Ivy muttered, her voice hoarse as she tried not to cry; especially not in front of Eddie, whose eyes she could feel piercing the back of her head with a multitude of questions. “I haven’t taken the tests… I’m too scared.”

Immediately, calm and caring Louise was back, wrapping her arms around Ivy and cooing into her ear that she was so sorry for shouting. Ivy crumbled into her friend’s arms, strangely relieved that she wasn’t alone anymore. Eddie felt as though he was intruding on a private moment yet his feet refused to move.

“You don’t have to be scared, Ivy,” Louise took Ivy’s face in her hands. “There might not even be anything to be scared of yet. Isn’t that right, Eddie?”

“What?” Eddie frowned as Louise and Ivy both turned to look at him. “Oh, yeah. Mmhmm, I mean if you haven’t done a test then you don’t know, and if you don’t know then you, erm, might not need to cry.”

“You’re right, Eddie,” Ivy nodded and gave him a watery smile as Louise rolled at her at his terrible attempt at reassurance. “I’m sorry about all of _this_. Um, I promise that before I moved here my life was quite dull and now it seems like every week you’re standing at my apartment door watching me cry.”

“What are friends for?” Eddie murmured with a hint of a smile, and eyes that looked at Ivy so softly she could have cried again.

“Exactly,” Louise said with smile. “Which is precisely why you’re gonna go in the bathroom and take your little test, and Eddie and I are gonna wait right here, aren’t we, Eddie?”

“We are?” he grimaced. “I mean, yeah. We absolutely are. You just take your time doing what you need to do and we’ll be right here waiting for you.”

Ivy took a shaky yet deep breath and took one of the tests that Louise handed to her, ignoring the comment that she had wasted her money buying ten of the things, and walked towards the bathroom like she was walking to her death.

Three minutes passed; Eddie knew this because Louise was timing it on her phone and tapping her feet impatiently as they waited for Ivy to come back out. Eddie felt… strange; confused and not at all sure what to make of this situation, but he didn’t have much time to contemplate his whirling thoughts when Ivy stepped out of the bathroom with the white and blue stick clutched tightly in her left hand.

“So?” Louise bounced up and down nervously. “Don’t keep us in suspense; am I gonna be an aunty or what?”

Eddie couldn’t read the expression on Ivy’s face clearly. It looked no different to the expression she had worn going into the bathroom, so it didn’t exactly give much away. He found himself holding his breath as she slowly dropped the test onto the kitchen side so that he and Louise could read the answer in the little box.

_Pregnant._


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey lovelies! Sorry it's taken a long time to get this out and I'm sorry this is only kind of a filler but the next chapter will be longer and more interesting. xx

**She’s crying again, Eddie.**

Eddie sighed. It had been a few days since Ivy had the shock of her life and found out that she was pregnant. Since then, she had pretty much refused to see anyone- not even Louise- and Eddie was worried. And confused. He liked Ivy; he _really_ liked her and the second he had seen that one word on the test, it felt as though someone had thrown a bucket of ice cold water over him. But as he climbed the last few steps and reached the hallway of his and Ivy’s apartments, he felt sadness. He could hear Ivy crying faintly inside her apartment and he realised that he needed to put his own feelings aside and be there for his friend.

“Ivy,” he called out, knocking on the door. “Its me, Eddie. You alright? Listen, I know you maybe don’t feel like talking but I’m here if you need someone.”

Silence answered him and with a dejected slump of his shoulders, he turned towards his own front door, balancing his bag of groceries in one arm while he fished his key out of his pocket. Before he could, a sound made him turn around and he was shocked to see Ivy stood in her doorway looking at him.

“Hey,” he smiled, walking towards her slowly as though frightened she would scare off and go back inside again. “You doing ok?”

“You want the real answer or the socially polite one?” she muttered.

“From you, the real one always,” he answered.

Ivy sighed and her bottom lip trembled ever so slightly before she cleared her throat and forced herself to pull herself together.

“You wanna come in for a coffee?” she asked.

“Sure,” Eddie grinned, feeling Venom move around excitedly.

Eddie was struck by the cleanliness of Ivy’s apartment as usual and he dumped his groceries on the counter before taking a seat on one of the breakfast stools. He grinned when he saw Ivy standing up on her tiptoes to reach the coffee granules, and she blushed when she saw him. She set the kettle on the stove to boil and reached into the cupboard for a massive bar of chocolate which she snapped in two and slid one half towards Eddie.

“This your lunch?” Eddie teased.

“I haven’t been out for a couple of days,” she admitted with a grimace. “But I’m working tonight so I can stock up on some supplies. Speaking of which, Eddie, I really appreciate you telling Mrs Chen I was sick when I didn’t turn up for my shift the other day.”

“It was no problem,” he waved her off, settling a piece of the milk chocolate on his tongue and letting it melt. “So, uh, how are you feeling about the, uh, about the-“

“-About the fact that I’m single and knocked up?” she interrupted him with a wry grin. “I’m not sure, Eddie. One minute I think I’m fine and then the next I’m looking up abortion clinics; not that I could ever do that I don’t think. Then I keep thinking about maybe having the baby and giving it up for adoption, but I’m frightened that when the time comes I won’t be able to give the baby away. My head is fucked.”

**Why would Ivy want to give her youngling to somebody else?**

_It’s complicated, bud._

**No, it’s not.**

_Look, Vee, we’ll talk about this after, ok?_

Eddie could feel Venom sulking but he remained silent.

“Have you spoken to your ex?” Eddie asked.

“Yep,” she sighed, moving over to the kettle and pouring hot water into the coffee mugs. “He told me that I knew he never wanted kids and that if this was my way of trying to get him back then I had failed. Then he venmo’d me three hundred bucks to pay towards getting rid of it.”

“What a dick,” Eddie muttered, smiling his thanks when Ivy placed his coffee down in front of him.

**We should eat him.**

_Don’t tempt me._

“Indeed,” Ivy agreed. “I don’t really know what I ever saw in him, but they say love is blind right? Or whatever it was I had with him, cos the more I think on it I don’t think it was love.”

“What about Louise? You spoken to her about all of this?”

“Not really,” Ivy shook her head, spooning sugar into her coffee and stirring. “I just… she’s my best friend, right? I would jump in front of a bus for her and I know she’d do the same for me, but I just don’t think she’d understand my hesitation at keeping this baby.”

“Sure, she would,” Eddie frowned. “She’s got kids of her own; she knows how hard it is.”

“Yeah, but she’s never had to do it alone. She might think it was hard work having the girls when they were babies, and as much as she bitches about Glen but he’s such a good dad and he really helped her out when the girls were tiny and she got postpartum. He used to sit up with her at night when she was feeding and she was tired, and he helped out with dirty diapers and puke and…” Ivy sighed, picking at a crack on the rim of her mug. “…I don’t think she would fully understand that if I do this, I’m gonna be completely alone. There’s not gonna be someone there to sit up with me all night when I’m tired and the baby won’t stop crying, is there?”

Eddie nodded his understanding, and truthfully he really did understand her point. But he also knew that if she was certain about getting rid of the baby she would have booked an appointment by now; or at least to talk to someone about it anyway.

“I know it’s not the same, but you’ve got me, Ivy,” Eddie reached for her hand.

**Both of us.**

Ivy’s eyes flashed up to meet Eddie’s and she tried to ignore the tingle that shot up her arm as she smiled at him. She knew she fancied Eddie. She had admitted it to herself; hell, she had even admitted it to Louise, but she realised that she actually really liked him. She _like_ liked him, and even if she had had even a miniscule chance with him before finding out she was pregnant, she had none now. Slipping her hand out from beneath his, she brushed her hair behind her ear with a blush. She supposed friends was better than nothing.

“You wanna go for a bite to eat before you start work?” Eddie suggested. “No pizza this time, I promise.”

“I never wanna eat pizza again,” Ivy chuckled, her eyes scrunching up slightly and her nose crinkling at the corners. “Wanna go to Salvatore’s? I could really go for some of their fettucine alfredo.”

“Sounds good to me,” Eddie nodded. “How about I go and dump my stuff back at the apartment and then I’ve got an article I need to get finished by three. So how about I swing by after I’m done and we can go?”

“Sure,” Ivy agreed. “I’ll see you later, Brock.”

………

_One week later_

Ivy felt sick, and it had nothing to do with the horrific morning sickness that had been plaguing her. No, the nauseous feeling in her stomach had everything to do with the fact that she had just come back from her first doctors appointment and things weren’t as straight forward as she first thought at all. Seriously, it was like she was being punished for every bad thing she had ever done in life.

Dawdling along the street until she reached the coffee shop near to her apartment; the coffee shop where Eddie was already waiting for her, she text Louise and promised to call her later and let her know how everything went as she pushed the door open. The bell above the door tinkled and she smiled when she saw Eddie sat in the corner, waving with that adorable dopey grin of his.

“Hey you,” he said when she sat down. “I ordered you a decaf latte and I thought you’d appreciate this.”

“Oh wow, Eddie, do you really think I’m that fat?” she snorted at the entire chocolate cake he pushed towards her.

“What?” he looked horrified. “No, I thought we could…. Oh my god, I wasn’t trying to insinuate you were-“

“-Chill the fuck out, Eddie,” Ivy patted his had patronizingly. “I was just kidding with you.”

“Oh,” Eddie grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck and ignoring Venom who was laughing at Eddie’s idiotic behaviour. “So, how did you get on at the doctors?”

Ivy didn’t answer for a moment. She just cut a slice of the cake and put it on one of the side plates Eddie had on the table and passed to him, before cutting a slice for herself. It was only once she had taken the first bite of the deliciously sweet goodness that she finally looked at Eddie and answered.

“Guess who’s having twins?” she said with mock enthusiasm, not even feeling able to muster up a giggle at the way Eddie choked on his cake in shock.

“Twins?” Eddie let out of a puff of air. “Wow that’s… wow.”

“Indeed,” Ivy muttered, dropping her fork onto her plate with a dull clang. “I mean, look at me, Eddie. I’m a fucking mess, and I just had gotten my head around the idea that I could maybe manage one baby, but two? I can’t do it.”

“So, what are you saying?”

“I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “I really don’t fucking know.”

“You don’t?” Eddie didn’t believe her. There was just something in her tone of voice that was so dejected that Eddie knew what she was thinking about doing without her even having to say it. “Ivy, if you really don’t think you can do this, having two babies, then… then you need to do what’s best for you.”

“Even if that means doing something I always thought I was against?” she whispered. “Something that you and Louise might judge me for?”

“Ivy, sometimes we all do things we thought we would never have done. Sometimes life just takes us in a direction we never expected, and just because we do things we thought we were against or that other people might not understand doesn’t make us bad.”

“You say that like you have experience, Brock,” Ivy finally gave a small smile. “I bet you’ve got a lot of dark secrets hidden in the back of your closet, huh?”

“You have no idea.”


	5. Chapter Five

“And I said to Phoebe that if I caught her sticking boogers in her sister’s dinner again that I’d make her eat them all.”

Ivy chuckled at Louise’s voice, which was becoming more animated with every glass of wine she imbibed, and Ivy was so glad now that she had told her best friend that she needn’t abstain from alcohol out of friendly solidarity to her.

“Kids are disgusting sometimes,” Ivy grimaced.

“Yep,” Louise agreed, holding up her wine glass in agreement as her eyes struggled to focus on Ivy properly. “Dirty little fuckers, but oh my goodness if they aren’t also the most gorgeous little things.”

Ivy faltered for a moment and tried not to think about the two babies currently nestled up all snuggly and warm inside of her womb. _They’re just foetuses,_ she told herself. _They’re not even babies. And this time next week they will be nothing but a bad memory._

“As much as I love my god daughters, do you mind if we change the subject, Lou?”

“Oh, hon, I’m sorry,” Louise frowned, pressing a sloppy kiss to Ivy’s cheek. “You don’t need to be talking about kids right now, do you?”

Ivy smiled her thanks to her best friend, thankful that Louise had taken her decision well. She had been fully prepared for Louise to try and talk her out of it or guilt trip her or scream or shout, and she had done nothing of the sort. She had been quiet at first and then she had hugged Ivy and told her that she would support whatever choice she made.

“What shall we talk about instead?” Louise tapped a finger to her mouth in thought. “Oh, oh, I know! Let’s talk about guys.”

“Guys?”

“Well, one guy. Let’s talk about your hot neighbour,” Louise grinned.

“Would you not refer to him as that,” Ivy pulled a face. “He has a name, you know.”

“Yeah, and I’m willing to bet his name is on the tip of your tongue when you’re lying in bed with that vibrating friend I bought you the other year; the one that you claim is still in the box but you’re an absolute liar.”

“Louise,” Ivy hissed, glancing around as though somehow Eddie could hear them through her door and his.

“Oh, don’t be such a fucking prude, Vee,” Louise rolled her eyes. “If I was single, I would be finger fucking myself thinking about him too. In fact, who says I haven’t already?”

“You’re disgusting,” Ivy swatted her around the head. “Now every time I look at Eddie I’m gonna be thinking about _you_ doing _that_.”

“So, you really haven’t thought about what it would be like to get down and dirty with Eddie Brock?” Louise raised a disbelieving eyebrow. “You’ve not looked at those lips and wondered how they’d feel on your-“

“-Lalalala! Stop!” Ivy slapped her hands over her ears. “We are ending this conversation right now, Lou. Do you honestly have no shame?”

“Nope,” Louise smirked. “Look, just answer me one question and I promise not to keep saying things about Mr Sexy across the hall.”

“Fine,” Ivy sighed. “One question and nothing more.”

Across the hall, Mr Sexy and his symbiote life partner were listening to Ivy and Louise’s conversation with great interest. At first, Eddie had felt guilty listening to the two of them, but it was so nice to hear Ivy laughing that he couldn’t help himself, and he found himself once again grateful for Venom’s wonderful hearing. Now the conversation had taken an interesting turn and he found himself waiting with bated breath for Ivy’s answer.

“Ok, I already know that you fancy, Eddie,” he could hear Louise slurring. “And if he fancied you back, would you hit the sack with him, yes or no?”

“I’m pregnant, Lou,” Ivy sighed.

**That was not a no.**

_It wasn’t a yes either, bud._

“Ok, well soon you’re not gonna be pregnant,” Louise was undeterred and completely determined to coax the answer out of Ivy. _God bless, Louise,_ Eddie thought to himself. “So, if Eddie Brock knocked on your door and said ‘Hey Ivy, you’re a hot piece of ass and I’d really like to dip my wick in your candle’ what would you say?”

Ivy laughed, a real belly laugh that made Eddie grin. Fucking Louise was even more of a hoot when drunk.

“First of all, Eddie doesn’t speak like that,” Ivy told Louise pointedly, amusement still present in her voice. “And secondly, if he did I would absolutely shut the door in his face.”

“Alright alright, if he just came over and told you he liked you and wanted to ask you out, what would you do?”

“I don’t know, Louise,” Ivy’s voice sobered. “I like him a lot. He’s the perfect guy; but he’s also become a really good friend to me in this past month or so. He’s sweet and goofy and funny, and yes he looks like something out of a magazine, especially when he’s wearing that leather jacket and his face is all stubbly, and don’t get me started on the way he smells. But I don’t know if I could risk it all going wrong and ruining our friendship”

“So, you would turn down a fuck with Eddie Brock?” Louise was aghast. “That’s like a crime against womanhood, Ivy.”

“No, Lou, a true crime would be losing someone who has come to mean a lot to me,” Ivy murmured.

Eddie swallowed down the lump in his throat and ignored Venom’s curious glance. He didn’t feel so amused by their conversation anymore.

**Ivy’s words made you sad** .

“No, Ven,” Eddie shook his head. “Well kind of. I like her, Ven-“

“ **-We both do** ,” Venom mumbled.

“Yeah. And I know I should be upset that even though she likes me too, she doesn’t wanna do anything about, but I’m not,” Eddie took a breath as he felt himself getting choked up. “I… after things ended with Annie, I was so lost for a very long time until you came along. And you love me just as I love you, but I didn’t ever think I would find anyone else, anyone _human_ who actually cared about me the way Ivy apparently does. She doesn’t wanna lose me from her life and that… that means a lot to me.”

Venom purred and nuzzled against Eddie’s face. The symbiote understood that Eddie wanted more from Ivy, they both did, and it also understood that for the first time in a long time, Eddie felt as though he was truly wanted by another human. Even if it was just as a friend.

………………

“Ivy, can you take that rubbish out the back for me?”

“Sure, Mrs Chen,” Ivy nodded.

Her feet were aching. Double shifts were no fun but Mrs Chen had needed her, and the woman was far too nice not to help. She launched the bin bags in the dumpster at the back and when she headed back inside, she could hear light hearted arguing coming from Mrs Chen and another voice that made her heart leap.

“Hey Ivy, tell Mrs Chen that Star Trek is better than Star Wars,” Eddie grinned, holding his motorbike helmet in one hand and a box of tater tots in the other. 

“If you want to keep your job, Ivy, tell you Eddie he’s wrong,” Mrs Chen narrowed her eyes playfully.

“I think the pair of you are disgusting geeks,” Ivy smirked. “And you should both be ashamed of yourselves.”

“Ouch,” Eddie hissed as if burnt. “You’re mean.”

“Yeah, but you love it really, Brock,” Ivy chuckled.

Eddie winked and Mrs Chen smirked when Ivy blushed at him. It was about time Eddie was sweet on someone and apparently his feelings were reciprocated.

“Why don’t you go on home, Ivy?” Mrs Chen suggested, deciding to give the two a little nudge. “Eddie can give you a ride home.”

“But I still have an hour left,” Ivy frowned.

“Yeah, and I don’t think Ivy should be riding a motorbike in her condition,” Eddie added before he could think about the words that were coming out of his mouth. “What I mean to say is that yesterday she had a touch of vertigo and it might not be safe for her to get on the bike, you know. In case she falls off.”

“She’ll be fine, I’m sure,” Mrs Chen was having none of it. “Off you go both of you.”

Ivy couldn’t understand why Eddie looked so panicked as they walked down the street to where he had parked his bike, and she was more than a little annoyed that he had all but told Mrs Chen that she was up the duff.

“I’ll just wheel the bike home,” Eddie decided out loud.

“The hell you will,” Ivy scoffed. “I’ve never been on a motorcycle before and I’m excited.”

“But you can’t go on it,” Eddie was visibly panicking. “It’s dangerous.”

“Eddie,” Ivy put a hand on her hip and scowled at him. “It doesn’t really matter, does it? Hmm?”

Eddie sighed and rubbed an anxious hand across his face. He knew that her appointment was at the end of the week, and he also knew that if they were to have an accident and something happened to the babies, it wouldn’t matter to Ivy. But it mattered to Eddie. He couldn’t live with that guilt on his shoulders.

**We will keep her safe, Eddie. You know we will.**

_I know, bud. But I just-_

**-You are being pathetic, Eddie. We will keep Ivy safe and besides, we are looking forward to having her arms wrapped around us.**

Even Eddie couldn’t argue with that. He looked at Ivy, mouth set in a stern line and the freckles on her nose peeking through her fading make up, and knew he couldn’t say no.

“Fine,” he tutted. “But we’ll just take it slow, alright?”

“Sure, grandma,” Ivy tutted, gratefully taking the spare helmet that Eddie pulled from beneath the motorbike seat. It was white and very feminine, and she wondered for a moment how many other women had worn it. Not that it was any of her business, but for some reason it hurt.

Eddie climbed on the bike and when Ivy climbed on behind him, he tried to ignore how nice her arm felt gripping around his waist. She leant her cheek against his back, breathing in his leather and citrus sent, closing her eyes briefly to pretend that one day he could be something more to her.

“You ready?” he asked.

“Born ready,” she joked, making him chuckle.

“Hold on tight.”

………………

Ivy was lying in bed, listening to the rain on her window and trying to relax. Tomorrow was the day of her appointment and she was nervous as hell. She couldn’t ignore the niggle of doubt gnawing at her and she tried to reassure herself that it was just nerves and nothing else. But even as she repeated that over and over in her head like some sort of mantra, her hand drifted down to her stomach and she wanted to cry. She rolled over onto her side and sighed, looking out of the window and wishing all of her problems could disappear like those raindrops sliding down the glass. Why did it have to be so hard?

She wasn’t sure how she slept for. It felt like hours but it was probably just minutes. Her stomach was churning and she tried not to think about the dream she’d just had. She tried not to think about the way she had felt so warm and fuzzy holding two tiny babies in her arms.

Closing her eyes, she tried to imagine herself with two babies in tow. She tried to imagine what sort of mom she would be. Would she be patient? Calm? Or would she be the type to stress over little handprints on the walls or shout when the babies wouldn’t sleep? She liked to think she would be a good mom, someone that her kids could always come to for anything; someone that they knew always tried her best. Ivy wanted to slap herself. Why was she doing this? Tomorrow she was going to the clinic and it would be for the best. So why did she feel like she was making a horrible mistake?

Sitting up, she grabbed her phone off of the bedside table. Her phone clicked and clacked as she typed out a message to Eddie.

_I know you’re probably asleep, and if you’re not then you’re a psycho. I don’t mean to message so late but I need your help… I think I’m making a mistake, Eddie. Am I making a mistake?_

She pressed send and got out of bed to make herself a drink. She was pouring herself a glass of orange juice when someone knocked faintly at the door. She didn’t even bother looking to see who it was.

“Do you always open the door to strangers at three in the morning?” Eddie commented, his hair looking slightly disheveled from sleep. He looked actually adorable in checkered pyjama bottoms and a plain t shirt, and Ivy tried not to stare.

“You’re hardly a stranger,” Ivy tutted. “Now do you wanna come in or not?”

“Well, I sure as hell don’t wanna be standing out here all night,” Eddie muttered groggily.

“Wow, someone’s cranky when he’s tired,” she teased. “Sorry for waking you up.”

“Nah, it’s all good,” Eddie waved her off. “But I need coffee. Desperately.”

Ivy chuckled and turned to walk back to the kitchen, rubbing her eyes and letting out a sudden yawn.

“Uh, Ivy,” Eddie frowned. “I think you better go call a doctor or something.”

“Huh?” Ivy looked at him. “What are you talking about?”

“Ivy, you’re bleeding.” 


End file.
